What is the history of the anti-fascist movement in the United States?
Executive summary
The anti‑fascist movement in the United States traces its roots to interwar and transnational struggles against European fascism, evolved through domestic fights against racist and authoritarian movements across the 20th century, and re‑emerged in new forms—notably Anti‑Racist Action and contemporary “antifa”—in response to late‑20th and 21st‑century white supremacist organizing and political shifts [1] [2] [3]. Debates over tactics, organization, and definitions have followed the movement from street fights in the 1930s to social‑media era contests after Charlottesville and the Trump presidency [2] [4] [5].
1. Origins: an international genealogy and U.S. antifascist currents
Anti‑fascism as a distinct political practice was born in Europe in the interwar years—most famously in groups like the German Antifaschistische Aktion formed in 1932—and those traditions informed U.S. activists who opposed fascist movements at home and abroad during the 1930s and Depression era [1] [2]. In the United States the antifascist impulse connected with campaigns against the Ku Klux Klan, isolationist debates, and organizations of Italian and other exiles who organized against Mussolini and Hitler, creating an early, plural antifascist current [3] [6].
2. Mid‑century realignment: World War II, the Red Scare and the occultation of antifascism
The defeat of Axis states dampened fascism as an overt state ideology, but U.S. antifascists were squeezed by Cold War anticommunism; the label “premature anti‑fascist” was even used pejoratively against Americans who had agitated earlier against fascism, and left‑led antifascist organizing was undermined by postwar repression [7] [3] [8]. Scholars note that antifascist memory survived unevenly in institutions and among Black, labor and radical movements that linked fascism to racism and economic oppression in U.S. contexts [8] [6].
3. Revival in the late 20th century: punk, skinheads and Anti‑Racist Action
A distinct strand of contemporary U.S. antifa traces directly to the late‑1980s Anti‑Racist Action network, born in punk/anarchist scenes to confront neo‑Nazi skinhead infiltration and racist public demonstrations; historians credit ARA as a precursor to modern antifa groups in the U.S. [9] [4] [10]. That revival emphasized direct action and community defense, often blending nonviolent protest with confrontational tactics aimed at disrupting far‑right organizing [4] [10].
4. The 21st century: digital publics, mass rallies, and renewed spotlight
Antifascist activism gained renewed national prominence after violent white‑supremacist mobilizations such as Charlottesville in 2017, and those events sharpened public debate about whether and how to confront contemporary far‑right movements; civil‑society monitors and historians differ on scale and methods, with groups like the ADL noting increased visibility for antifa while academic studies situate it within longer American traditions [5] [11] [12]. The Trump era intensified disputes over labeling, with some commentators and scholars arguing parallels between current politics and fascism while others urge caution in applying the term [13] [11].
5. Tactics, organization and controversies: decentralized practice meets public anxiety
Contemporary U.S. antifa is decentralized and heterogeneous—rooted in anarchist and far‑left milieus but drawing wider participants—and it prizes direct action over electoral avenues while also coexisting with institutional anti‑fascist work by groups that monitor extremism [9] [12]. This mix provokes competing narratives: supporters frame actions as necessary community self‑defense against violent white supremacists, critics emphasize property destruction or clashes with police and warn of escalation, and watchdogs document rare lethal incidents attributed to antifa alongside many more lethal incidents tied to far‑right extremists [9] [5].
6. Historiography and the road ahead: contested memory and new scholarship
Recent scholarship and anthologies have deepened understanding of U.S. antifascist lineages, stressing continuities with older labor, Black radical, and immigrant antifascisms while also mapping differences in tactics and organization; historians warn against both romanticizing militant pasts and oversimplifying present dangers [11] [6]. Reporting and research show that the movement is neither monolithic nor solely violent, that its forms shift with political conditions, and that assessing its role requires attention to local histories, ideological diversity, and the agendas of sources on all sides [11] [3].